Strong online sales are driving warehouse rents to record highs in New Jersey, sparking a frenzy in New Jersey’s commercial real estate market. Amazon captured an estimated 45-50% of all e-commerce sales during Black Friday. Meanwhile, Walmart reports that surging online orders are causing delays in its delivery network, but “the vast majority of orders are shipping on time now,” said Walmart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt. Meanwhile, UPS aircraft mechanics are threatening to strike over reductions in their health care benefits.

Mobile revenue grew by 43% over Thanksgiving week from a year ago, confirming the predictions of Tony Zito, CEO of Rakuten Marketing, that consumers will grow more comfortable buying multiple items at once from their phones.

Did you know?

Warehousing companies added 8,100 jobs in November, responding to robust online sales demand. November’s growth in warehousing jobs was the most in a single month in nearly two years. Distribution centers have added nearly 35,000 jobs in the past year.

Quotable:

“Furthermore, I can't see around trucks in front of me without pulling halfway into another lane. When I need to exchange paperwork with the guard at a terminal, or the police, I can't lean out the window to do so. Speaking of which, I have to believe one of the windows on the Tesla Semi rolls down, but I can't figure out which one. If, as it appears from the renderings, the windows only vent, well... that's unacceptable.”

What would the Tesla Semi be like for drivers?

Final Thoughts

The Trump administration has indicated that it will unveil its long-delayed $1T infrastructure package in January, betting that voters want massive deficit spending on roads, bridges, and airports even as it opposed by some lawmakers. FreightWaves will continue to cover this story as it unfolds in 2018.

Hammer down everyone!

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Australia’s state and federal governments are together investing billions of dollars in much needed road infrastructure. “We need to invest in transport infrastructure and we require integrated solutions. That’s the guts of it,” say local experts.

Compensation packages are the key to attracting, molding and retaining successful employees. Choosing a compensation plan is a process as unique as your business itself, with the right plan requiring careful consideration and realism to create a balanced plan for optimum growth.

European Union regulations will change on the 1 January next year as monitoring of carbon emissions will allow the EU to understand which trucks are the most polluting and to introduce carbon penalties for the worst polluters.

FreightWaves

FreightWaves provides data and commentary on the global freight market. At the core of each article or content piece is a focus on the economic impacts and outcomes - good or bad - that are driven by emerging technology, innovation and freight industry evolution.

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